timwis Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Hi Vapor Talk members, In this review i take a look at the RPM 40 Pod Mod Kit from Smok. The SMOK RPM 40 Pod Mod Kit was supplied for the purpose of this review by Tinna from Buybest. Introduction Smok haven't been quite as prolific of late but have recently brought out a few devices the RPM 40 Pod Mod being one of them. The cuboid shaped pod mod with screen and fully adjustable wattage is the way i believe the market will go in regards pod/AIO devices in 2020 with the market reaching saturation point when it comes to the smaller, simple pod devices. The RPM has adjustable wattage which can be adjusted up to 40W, a display that can be customised and comes with 2 different pods/cartridges, one which accommodates replaceable RPM coils and the other accommodates Nord coils so the available coil options are multiple. With a 1500mAh in-built battery, an RPM RBA available and coming in 8 colour options, let's give it a look! ___________________________________________________________________ In The Box Contents: Standard Edition: • 1 x RPM40 Device (1500mAh) • 1 x RPM Standard Pod (RPM Mesh 0.40ohm Coil Preinstalled) (4.3ml) • 1 x RPM Nord Pod (Nord DC 0.60ohm Coil Preinstalled) (4.5ml) • 1 x USB Cable • 1 x User Manual EU 2 ml Edition: • 1 x RPM40 Device (1500mAh) • 1 x RPM Standard Pod (RPM Mesh 0.4ohm Coil Preinstalled) (2ml) • 1 x RPM Nord Pod (Nord DC 0.60ohm Coil Preinstalled) (2ml) • 1 x USB Cable • 1 x User Manual ___________________________________________________________________ Aesthetics and Ergonomics The RPM 40 comes in a cardboard box with outer cardboard sleeve and when opened we find all items on one layer. I received the Prism Gold version, the colour options are Bright Black, Prism Chrome, Orange, White, Prism Rainbow, Purple Red, Green and Prism Gold, depending which version 3 sides have either colourful designs or Carbon Fiber panels. The form factor reminds me of the Cube X from OBS but slimmer and of course instead of fitting a tank up top we have the Black protruding squared off mouthpiece of the pod/cartridge. If the other metallic colours are the same as the Gold i received the chassis is a fingerprint magnet but overall seems a durable finish and the build quality is very good. On the face we have a Black panel which houses a square protruding fire button at the top and side by side rectangular navigational buttons towards the bottom, in-between we have a large coloured screen. Both sides and rear have carbon fiber panels on the version i received with some understated branding on the rear panel. Both sides towards the top we have slots cutout to allow air to the pod/cartridge and moving to the base we have the micro USB port. The device is a nice portable size and weight and feels great in the hand when in use. ___________________________________________________________________ RPM 40 Specs and Features: Size: 25 x 25 x 99mm Weight: 99g Capacity: 4.3 ml Battery Capacity: 1500mAh Standby Current: <140uA Input Voltage: 3.3V-4.2V Output Voltage: 0.5V-4.1V Firing Time: 0.001S Output wattage: 1W-40W Charging Current: 0.88A (Max) Charging Voltage: 5V Output Mode: Watt Resistance Range: 0.22-2.502 Overcharge Voltage: 4.3V Over-discharge Voltaqe: 2.4V • Ultra portable pod mod that shapes like a cuboid • Large 1500 battery capacity for longer vaping time • Newly IQ-R chip shortening the firing time to 0.001S • Max output power—40W • 0.96 inch TFT screen to clearly show the detailed vaping data • More coil options Colours: Bright Black, Prism Chrome, Orange, White, Prism Rainbow, Purple Red, Green, Prism Gold ___________________________________________________________________ 2 Different Pods/Cartridges You receive 2 different cartridges and while they both appear to have the same dimensions each house a different family of coils which itself changes the pod/cartridge capacity. Both Pods/Cartridges are 2ml with the TPD version although i don't see how they can have exactly the same capacity as the RPM coils are bigger than the Nord which surely reduces capacity. With the standard version the Pod/Cartridge that accommodates the RPM family of coils has a capacity of 4.3ml and can be identified by being a clear pod/cartridge with a Red fill bung which says "RPM" on it. The pod/cartridge that houses the Nord coils have a 4.5ml capacity and can be identified by having a smoked finish and a Black fill bung which says "NORD" on it. Although the Nord pod/cartridge has a smoked appearance there is no issues with seeing the e-liquid inside, with both pods/cartridges the coils get press fitted with attached base section into the pods/cartridges. ___________________________________________________________________ The Pods/Cartridges The pods are a cube shape with Black squared off mouthpiece and i have already explained the differences between the 2 pods/cartridges you receive. On one side of the pod/cartridge we have a large bung that can be pulled out via the outer edge leaving the bung still attached to the pod/cartridge. The fill port is one of the biggest i have seen on a pod/cartridge just make sure you have the pod/cartridge on it's side then you can fill quickly and absolutely mess free. Looking at the base of the pod/cartridge with installed coil you can see the round central positive and negative surround spit in 2 parts (allowing pod to be fitted 2 different ways) peek separates the positive and negative sections. The pods/cartridges have no adjustable airflow but if you look at both sides of the device we have 2 generous slots cutout to allow plenty of air to get to the pod/cartridges leaving airflow to be controlled by the bore of the coil heads. ___________________________________________________________________ The Coils You get 2 coils included both of which are pre-installed in the included pods/cartridges. In the RPM pod we get the RPM 0.4ohm Mesh coil with a recommended wattage of 25W, in the Nord pod we get the Nord regular 0.6ohm dual coil recommended at 20W. Being able to use both RPM and Nord coils gives plenty of available options: ___________________________________________________________________ RBA Available If you spotted it bottom left on the picture of the available coil heads you would of noticed there is an RPM RBA head available which will spark an interest i'm sure. The RBA comes with wire and cotton to do a 0.6ohm build and when doing other builds you need to make sure the minimum resistance is 0.25ohm, it's a real shame this isn't included in the kit. ___________________________________________________________________ Fitting The Pod/Cartridge Looking inside the pods bay we can see the positive and negative Gold plated, spring loaded contacts and the inside of the side cutouts which will allow air to the pods. We can also see front and back small indents that correspond to protruding notches on the pod/cartridge. These notches just make the pod even more secure when press fitted into place, the pod/cartridge fits very securely in fact it takes quite an effort to remove which normally should be a pro. I said should be a pro but i wish the pod/cartridge could actually be removed just slightly more easily as one of the main cons for the device is that only the Black mouthpiece of the pod/cartridge protrudes from the top of the device so you can't see your juice level which means you need to remove the pod/cartridge to check, luckily i received the standard version so with having a large capacity this isn't as much of a problem as it could be. ___________________________________________________________________ The Display The colour display is very bright and impressively sharp with all the information needed on show. Top left we have "SMOK" then top right we have the battery status bar. Underneath we have the wattage and below this a wavy line. Underneath the line positioned centrally we have the time of your vape which stays displayed until your next puff is taken. Next we have resistance followed by voltage and then your puff count. Bottom left we have a painting pallet icon followed by 6 different coloured squares in an horizontal row. The main information is in white but added icons and the mentioned wavy line can be customised to be one of 6 colours. ___________________________________________________________________ Navigating The RPM 40 The RPM 40 may have a pod/cartridge that fits to the device but the device operates just like any other variable wattage regulated device. The device is the usual 5 clicks to turn on and 5 clicks to turn off and once on the wattage can be adjusted in 1W increments from 1W to 40W, it doesn't round robin. We do have a number of combination key press features which include pressing fire and left together resets the puff counter and fire and right together moves to the next colour option if you want to change the colour of certain items on the screen, the colours to choose from are Red, Orange, Blue, Magenta, Green and White. Pressing the fire button 3 times locks the whole device so it will not fire, alternatively you can lock just the navigational buttons by pressing them both at the same time. Finally as expected the device has the usual safety protections and if one kicks in a message is displayed on the screen. ___________________________________________________________________ Protections High-Temperature Protection 8 Seconds Cutoff Short Circuit Protection Low Voltage Protection ___________________________________________________________________ Charging The RPM 40 has 1A charging, well actually they admit it is actually 0.88A but most manufacturers round the figure up so 0.88A is about norm for the claim of 1A charging. You charge the device via the micro USB cable and both a battery status bar and the charge given as a percentage is displayed while the device is being charged, the RPM 40 also supports pass through so you can vape while charging. The USB port is on the base of the device which i don't like as i much prefer to be able to stand devices upright while charging. Charging took just under 2 hours on each occasion i charged and that included doing a bit of vaping during it's charge. ___________________________________________________________________ How It Vapes and My Thoughts! The device is cracking, it really is much better than i was expecting. I have also been testing the Voopoo Vinci which of course is so very similar and although that device has certain things in favour of it going by what i have heard on forums i thought as a comparison it would be a hands down victory to the Vinci but it's a lot closer contest than that. Unlike the Vinci where i get (not 100% certain whether it's condensation or a bit of escaping e-liquid) moisture in the pods bay the RPM 40's bay stays dry, also there are so many coil options including an available RBA for the RPM 40 which goes in it's favour. How the two devices perform is very similar but i do like that i can see the juice level without having to remove the pod on the Vinci and of course you also have the option of draw activation as well as the physical fire button. The Draw using the RPM 40 is a restricted direct lung with the bore on the coil heads determining just how restrictive, some of the coil heads might allow for MTL but considering the air the pods are getting it's going to be a loose MTL but really the mouthpiece just isn't suited to that style of vaping. The device fires as quick as any modern regulated device and hit's set wattage instantly, i found it performed excellently and really have no complaints. The Nord coil performed great giving solid flavour although i have used Nord coils in the past so knew what i was going to get but the pick was the RPM Mesh coil which gave really good flavour and lasted for 6 refills before any sought of drop off but even now the flavour is far too good to toss the coil just yet. I was fine with the 20W recommendation with the Nord coil but found the 25W for the RPM coil didn't give a cool vape but just felt a bit more warmth would be ideal, i bumped the wattage up to 30W and this was much better and the coil took the extra wattage comfortably in it's stride in fact while testing 70VG liquid even wicked perfectly ok with a bit of chain vaping at 35W. I used both 50/50 and 70%VG juices and both coils handled both well and as mentioned the RPM coil had no problems wicking well over it's recommended wattage. I also like the shape, size and weight of the device it's ideal for a carry about, i feel charging was about par for a 1500mAh battery and supporting pass-through is a pro but i really don't like the position of the USB port. Other things i like is the display (including customisation), the amount of coil options available and also having an available RBA head but i really think the RPM 40 would gain much more interest if this was included. ___________________________________________________________________ Likes Nice build quality Plenty of colour options Portable, ergonomic device Supports Nord and RPM coils Both Nord and RPM pod/cartridge included Large fill port (mess free filling) RBA head available Various restricted DL draws (dependant on coil used) Good flavour (supplied Nord Coil) Very good flavour (supplied RPM coil) Longevity above average both supplied coils Adjustable wattage 1W-40W (1W increments) Puff counter (can be reset) Sharp, bright, colour display Display can be customised Large capacity both pods/cartridges (standard version) 1A charging (0.88A to be precise) Supports Pass-through Detected no leaking or condensation inside pod/cartridge bay Cons Need to remove pod/cartridge to see juice level No adjustable airflow Not really suitable for MTL (loose MTL at best with available coils) RBA head not included Micro USB port on base I would once again like to thank Tinna from Buybest for supplying the SMOK RPM 40 Pod Mod Kit for the purpose of this review. ___________________________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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